a friend tried one of my homebrews...

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This is all so true... If someone is used to and likes fizzy horse pee, they aren't going to like real beer. My wife has tried my brews and always makes an awful (yet entertaining to me) face. At first I was concerned at her response until I let my award winning homebrew buddy try it who liked what I brewed as much as I do.
 
absolutely agreed with tytanium and bad67z. Another suggestion: If you can, find a local homebrew club. You can get some honest and accurate feedback there, as well as some suggestions on how to correct stuff if stuff actually needs correcting! Plus, a bunch of cool folks to brew with, which is always a plus.

I've got several co-workers with various tastes that i've shared brews with, and so far i've only had one real surprise response like you've described - and that in itself i've found surprising!

+1
 
So I had another buddy drop by the house last night, and he tried both my porter, and my golden apa, and he was impressed. he made several comments about the quality and fullness of the flavors and that if i would have said "here try this new microbrew i got from (insert local place here)"
he would have never been able to tell the difference!

makes me pretty pleased, and reminds me that "oh yeah, that's what the guys from HBT said"...
 
I gave a bottle to my boss who is a bmc drinker. It's a robust porter I made. I didn't expect him to like it and will probably be the last beer he gets from me.

On the other hand I took 2 bombers of it up to my parents house and it was a hit. Very pleased with that
 
Guaranteed your beer is fine. I took my beer up to a bunch of friends who are ecstatic whenever they get something better than Natty Light, and they called mine "just ok"
 
My SWMBO gives me the most terrible feedback on my ales, so I brew cider for her.

I am always weary to let someone try my beers, as I am so proud of it. I won't let anyone even pour it if they don't brew themselves, but if you have a discerning palate, you can have a brew from my stash.
 
I think it kinda boils down to you have to know your audience. BMC peeps are used to watery flavorless beer, so when they taste something that actually has flavor it's kind of overwhelming.

This thread reminds me of the worst comment I've ever heard from someone. I was at a gathering and brought a growler of my rauchbier. A friend's wife said "it tastes like hot dogs". I was like, really...hot dogs? You couldn't have compared it to a smoked artisan sausage...you gotta go the Oscar Meyer route? She wasn't much of a beer person and I'd had lot's of beer people beg me for more after trying it, so it didn't hurt my feelings too much.
 
For me liking homebrew is kike liking metal. Liking pop is like liking bmc. Metal is superior eith superior intellect and musicianship but the bmc is just the opiate for the masses and has little to no substance.
 
For me liking homebrew is kike liking metal. Liking pop is like liking bmc. Metal is superior eith superior intellect and musicianship but the bmc is just the opiate for the masses and has little to no substance.

Thats a fantastic thought!!!

Metal and home brewing is king.:rockin:
 
My sample size is small, but I know I brewed a good beer. I've "lost" about a third of my stash to neighbors and friends and only a few made the "thanks....it's, um, great" face. I relish the chance to introduce folks to good/different beers but it doesn't break my heart if they don't like my beer. Just means it's more likely I'll make it to the next batch before the shelves are empty.

It's been fun opening the beer horizon for a few BMC neighbors. Just a matter of guessing what they might like and using the local grocer's build your own six pack shelf. The guy who drank silver bullets found out he would rather drink wits and brown ales. Like me, he's not a hophead and other folks who tried to break him of BMC in the past kept pushing IPAs and the hoppy American ales.

Also good to get the opinion of folks who do like craft beers. Helps keeps the dream of opening your own brewpub alive if nothing else.
 
Slider said:
I was happily surprised by some folks who joined me for our Super Bowl party which was the 'official' tasting of my first batch. Pretty varied group of folks, including some major BMC drinkers, but a lot who appreciate micro and craft brews.

The response was positive, but it's a different gig altogether. But the interest by a couple guys was hearty enough that they may want to brew themselves and they're coming over tonight for brweing night at my place.

This^ I served my coopers stout at my SB party, and my buddy who's a die hard BMC/doesn't even want to try craft beer drank them up. You never know whose eyes you will open I guess
 
part16john said:
I just started brewing again and my wife doesnt like ipa' s so the first beer i made was a double ipa and she said it tasted like throw up....i take that as a compliment coming from her ;-)

I get this constantly, we've even come up with a rating system.
Swmbo calls it the baby throw up level or btl.
I'm still trying to figure out what it is but she says it's a citrus smell in the nose. She thought it was a young beer smell or yeast smell.

Last time we were at a beer tasting I had her write down the btl for all the beers so I could compare her notes with mine. The most obvious answer was citrus hops.
 
Ah... the old timid "gave my homebrew to a friend to try" symdrome.

Believe me - NO ONE is more critical of your home brew than you are. Almost all folks have only mass produced beers to compare to - and will do so when trying home brew. The best people for honest and helpful feedback are other home brewers by far - the more comfortable you are with them the better usually. Any time I give a bottle to a home brew newbie - I warn them up front what to expect and don't set my expectations too high on valuable feedback.

Home brewers that share their brews need to have thick skin and consider the source of the feedback. But don't let it disuade you from sharing - that can be one of the most rewarding part of brewing.
 
here's an interesting development....

the same guy, mr "it was rough"... has been bitten by the homebrew bug.

i was brewing an irish stout last night (it's going to be a sprint to have it ready by St Pattys) and he dropped by to "return my bottles". I had told him earlier in the day i would be brewing. i poured him a glass of my 4 week bottle conditioned Golden APA, and he loved it. not only that, he's going to come back next week when i brew my wheat beer.

if i had to wager, he'll be brewing by summertime.
 
Sounds like a buddy of mine... when he first learned that I started brewing he was ragging on me saying how it'll suck ect... tasted my first brew and has been stealing them ever since. He sat in on my last brew day and was asking all kinds of questions so I'm willing to bet he's going to start brewing as well.

What a great hobby!
 
My wife and I used to both not like IPA's but now I can't imagine drinking anything with less hops than them. They are amazing, and we are blessed to live in NorCal where we have easy access to a bunch of great ones.

I know this is off topic, but just need to point out that hoppier, like higher ABV, does not equal better beer. There are so many great styles of beer--some quite hoppy, some with very little bitterness or hop flavor/aroma. There are high ABV beers and low ABV beers. Restricting yourself to one corner of the flavor spectrum means missing out on all the other great types of beers that just don't happen to be IIIIIPAs.

OK, I'm stepping down off the soap box.
 
My wife actually thinks the Sierra Nevada tastes like Yuengling lager, haha. I sometimes wonder about her. ;)

She might have pretty decent tastes buds...Sierra Nevada and Yuengling have more than a few things in common:
both feature Cascade hops...although the SN IBU's are higher

Yuengling uses carmelized corn syrup....but if you make a clone the grain bill looks pretty much like a Sierra Nevada...with the addition of a little flaked corn.
 
If their taste is only for American Light Lager they are not qualified to judge a Homebrew or Microbrew for that matter. Just consider the source. If someone asks about my homebrew I ask them what beers they typically drink. If they respond with a light lager I just tell them they probably would not care for my beer.
 
When I go to a bowling alley or sporting event with friends and order an Amber Boch and one of my BMC drinkers try it they usually don't even like that. Not saying they are wrong because an opinion can't be wrong. No way would I worry too much about it if they didn't like any big beer.
 
so, once i started talking about homebrewing, my friends all were making requests for what i should brew, as well as begging for bottles to try.

so, this week, 3 months after starting this hobby, i sent a couple bottles home with two coworkers.

i'm pretty pleased with the results of my porter - in fact, i picked up a 6 pack of New Belgium's 1554, which tastes nearly identical. (made me proud!)

anyway. i should keep in mind these guys are BMC drinkers (and are all infatuated with the new Bud Light Platinum)... but... i was not prepared for this text...

"keeping in mind it's an early brew of yours, it was pretty rough..."


ouch.
anyone else experience this?

i've been really impressed with it myself, it's malty, hoppy, has an almost roasty quality to it. black as the ace of spades, but clear when you shine a light thru it. decent head, good carb, leaves nice lacing on the glass...

makes me nervous about sharing... (oh well more for me!)

i had people over when i opened my first batch of bottles. one of them finished his home brew, and then went and got a miller lite out of the fridge.

made a note to self: don't send him home brew as a gift. would be a waste of the home brew.

just keep chooglin' along, and keep working at it. you will be fine
 
Whiz beer drinkers are wierd, I used to be one. When I came back from Germany many moons ago I went nuts trying to find a good beer. Everyone was drinking whiz and I'd spent the last four years drinking Crystal weissen,Czech Pils and Hefe from the local brewery. This was the late 80s mind you and Craft beers were hella expensive. I got used to whiz again and Moosehead became the "good beer". My first taste of a Stout I pulled a face and had to consciously stop myself spitting it out. My first IPA was a Dogfish Head that I honestly thought was skunked. My bro-in-law thanked me for the gift of the remaining case. My neighbor who also brews gave me one of his IPAs and it was hoppy, fragrant and had me thinking of how to wheedle more out of him, along with his recipe. I honestly liked it and it had a h@ll of a lot more happening taste wise than Dogfish ever had.

Being exposed to good, real beer through you might shorten for them what was a long and tortured road for me. Good beer is an aquired taste after drinking whiz beer. Don't give up on them. Life's too short to drink bad beer.
 
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